xpaulo

Did you enjoy the visit to Salvador? For me the city is fascinating, but I got so many warnings from locals on the streets and in shops, I never felt comfortable. Had a good time in one of the saunas, beautiful men and mostly pleasant to be with. One tried to bully me into giving him more money and he made me nervous. I just kept telling myself he won't assault me in the sauna if it's a regular source of income for him. He was incredibly beautiful physically, but actually seemed sinister. From Salvador I went to Boipeba south of the city. It was the offseason and almost all the tourist places were closed. The only close to regular vehicle was a jeep owned by the police. Some ATVs and a farm tractor that towed a wagon... full of drunk young city fellows one afternoon catcalling the young women on the street, people were laughing at them so I don't think they were offensive. A few hours later it came back, they were all more or less passed out in the wagon. It was kind of surreal. These golden young men in shorts and sandals sort of piled on top of each other. This was just before the start of the 2014 World Cup and pre-tournament exhibition games had started. As I walked by one of the small homes, the front door, just a few feet from the street was open and I saw the whole family, mom, dad and maybe three kids squished into a tiny couch, watching a game. I was raised in the Canadian version of that working class family and everybody was poor in those days and we did everything together as a family, including watching Hockey Night in Canada on Saturday evenings, us kids all squished into the couch. Mom always made hamburgers and it was the only time we were allowed to eat in the living room. It's funny as I move into old age how a lot of old memories are coming back.

I only used Latam during my Jan/Feb trip and all the flights were great. I took the bus from Manizales to Medellin rather than Viva which had terrible reviews... yes, the bus was six hours for 200 kilometres, but it was on schedule.

Last week in Medellin a guy for hire told me to meet him at Hotel 574 in Poblado. It’s nice and we were told there were no available rooms and I had the feeling they don’t take walk in business. We walked around and the guy found a hostel with some rooms in a nearby building. Not nice, but clean and the bed worked. Also met an escort at a place in Laureles with 60,000 for 2 hours rooms. Definitely seedy, but clean. Yesterday rented a 25,000 for 2 hours room in Cucuta, big bed, aircon.

That's exactly who it was.

When I brought the young fellow back from the sauna the lady who does the cleaning was at the top of the stairs, I introduced him and they exchanged polite greetings. I don't know if she told the caretaker. Another guy in the building brought back a beautiful woman in a very tight skimpy dress. He was middleaged and average looking. Way below her league. She waved and gave me a big smile, and I'm sure I blushed the same as I always have when a beautiful woman smiles at me, and I'm as gay as the Easter Parade.

No, it was an airbnb in a nice apartment building very close to the sauna, the caretaker came out to the sidewalk at 7:30 am on a Sunday to see me off to the airport in a cab, and gave me a hug. I've seen a pattern of staff people coming out to check out the cab driver and make sure he knows where I am going. It's touching actually.

Thought so too, and when I saw an incredibly hot masseur wearing nothing but big running shoes and a snug pair of underwear with a big package in Cali's Phisicus I almost started giggling with joy. When I asked about extras, a stern look crossed his face that would do any dad proud, if he isn't one already, but almost comical on a youthful face. I had a regular massage anyway hoping he'd press that package against me at least once, but nope.

Is his contact info available, I'd go on one of his tours. I'll be in Medellin in a few days.

When Germaine Greer was around 60 a Canadian interviewer, with a faint tone of disapproval, asked her why she was still having relationships with young men. "Oh, because their semen flows like milk, dear," she replied, as if that should be self-evident to anybody who cared enough to ask. I found that very erotic for some reason and often think of it when I see a particularly fetching healthy looking young man.

It's so awesome when you instantly hit it off with somebody. Life is good.

A police officer in my town of about 30,000 people told me once if it wasn't for alcohol, it would only need two police officers. He was exaggerating of course, but almost all of their calls during a shift are alcohol related. I don't know they can deal with that day after day. But I also hate it that cops so often get away with shit that harms innocent people's lives, perhaps because they're usually A types and more prone to take advantage of vulnerable women, but sending dick picks to a woman who was just assaulted by her boyfriend the day before, and then saying he misunderstood her signals to him. Basically blaming her.

I recall a government official in Canada saying many years ago that while Prohibition in the U.S. and Canada is remembered as a huge failure, in a lot of respects it was a success with big reductions in alcohol related social and health problems. I've seen first hand in my own family with my father, sister and now a niece how destructive it can be and am thankful the only time I ever wanted to drink was to fit in with friends.

I don't drink so easy for me. Our local government however more or less made alcohol sales an essential service during the pandemic because it was worried no booze would be difficult for many people.

Is alcohol often involved in the road crashes. Maybe it's unfair, but the Brits have a rep for heavy drinking.

I will be at the Scala 68 about seven blocks from the Saint Moritz in mid-Feb....for four days. It's quite cheap, about $30 per night U.S.. I was suspicious, but the reviews are okay, complaints about noise at night. It wouldn't be the first time I jerked off to a noisy guy in the next room. Let me know if it has a bad rep.

I was there about 15 years ago and loved it. Despite the many western tourists, it had a tranquility about it and didn't feel overrun or any less authentic. There was an outdoor food stall that sold big bowls of rice and veggies every evening for about 50 cents. The bánh mì sold on the streets was fantastic. A list of tips for tourists posted on the street said giving a donation to the monks during the almsgiving should include at least a bit of a sacrifice to mean something so buying a little bag of cooked rice from the women selling it on the street doesn't count. Instead, I gave one of the monks enough cash to make me think twice about it. I was pretty much broke at the time so it wasn't much. A couple of the women selling rice noticed however and it was like I had stolen that money out of their pockets. They were furious. I should bought some of the rice from them too. It's one of the places I've been to in my life that I remember more than most. Also in Laos, the drunken tube float on the river at Vang Vieng. I gave my wallet and passport to a Canadian woman to carry in her drybag and somehow we found each other at the end. I was going as fast as I could on the tube, and as a good looking young British guy passed me, I told him I was trying to find a Canadian woman with my wallet and he replied, I'm trying to get away from the woman I slept with last night. Ah, straight men, how can their casual cruelty be so hot at the same. A little kid had to help me out of the tube at the end because I was too drunk to do it. He noticed I gave him all of the cash in my wallet and he made me take some back because he knew I would need it for the taxi back to town. What a day that was.

I went to Punta Cana for a family wedding a long time ago and I also booked a hotel room in Boca Chica for a week so I could experience a real town as opposed to the inclusivo. Huge mistake. The first night a somewhat scary guy sat with me at a quiet cafe while his friends sat down nearby. He picked up right away that I was gay. He didn't get abusive about that, but it was clear I had to pay him money or perhaps face consequences. There was a holiday weekend and drunk guys at the beach were getting into fights, which to be fair is common in Canada's bar districts, but I don't stick out there, ripped off at mom and pop food concessions and female prostitutes and pimps everywhere. There were lots of European men for female, and some women for male, hookers. The hotel desk clerk asked me if I wanted a woman. I considered asking the clerk later about a guy, but was worried about an underage person being sent.... and on a whole unfair to the people because that town was not representative of the people in DR. One nice thing, a police officer in Boca Chica made a teenager on a motorbike give me a ride to my hotel because he was concerned about safety. The teen didn't look happy about it, but he did it, and of course I gave him some money.

Nice write up. I was in Brazil in 2014 and it was amazing on home game days. On a Thursday afternoon R. da Consolação in Sao Paulo only had a few taxis and city buses. I was in Belo Horizonte for the opening day and there was a riot. A woman ran down the deserted street by the cafe with her children yelling something, the male customers and staff began piling up tables and chairs at the front while the women and children were moved to the back. Police officers barricaded the front of their station across the street with police cars. But the rioters, there weren't many, went another direction. I've never had trouble dressing down on vacations, it's my natural state. Even the guys selling time share condos on Puerto Vallarta's beach front ignore me.

I remember the first time I read about this new marvel as a young teen. I probably only flew on one a couple of times though. By the time I started taking intercontinental flights I think their heyday was over.

A wise move to call his wife. It's so hard to know sometimes when to speak up and when not to. My own misguided attempts at good intentions will have certainly earned me a place in hell. But you called that one perfectly.

Last year a fan at a Seattle Kraken game noticed one of the visiting Canucks equipment managers on the bench had what appeared to her to be a cancerous mole on the back of his neck, she wrote a note on her phone and then banged on the plexi-glass to show him. He didn't take note seriously, but had the team doctor look at the mole and it was indeed cancerous and was soon removed. He was very grateful. So weird things happen. I had a massage from an elderly lady on a Thai beach once. If I had had any lumps she would have found them. Very thorough, very very thorough.

So I usually use hand gestures to guys working in a sauna to indicate what I'm hoping is about to happen. Would saying "¿Puedo chuparte la polla? work okay in a Spanish speaking sauna?

We do, and we laugh at ourselves for it.

It's basically what's happening in the U.S.. Americans can weigh in here if they disagree. What we see in Canada is our media's portrayal of a dysfunctional mess in America with Fascists/Christians gaining influence. The recent midterms may indicate that the mass of un-engaged voters may be getting engaged again after the Roe vs Wade ruling. But the Democrats have to do a much better job of giving Americans hope they can and will be worthy of their support. Maybe Pelosi finally moving on will help, but I'm skeptical. Canada is in a similar situation with all three main party leaders unpopular. They've become caricatures, basically just cardboard cutouts of their real selves spouting whatever nonsense they think will get votes. So far at least in Canada religion has not become a big part of the process, which as a gay person is encouraging, although some are trying to revive a Christian based hate-on for trans/gay/lesbian imported from the U.S..